Understanding adopted and un-adopted roads for leaseholders

There are tens of thousands of un-adopted and private roads in England and Wales, and they can be found anywhere, in country lanes, through to brand new, exclusive developments.

It is not always clear if the road you live on is adopted or not – and knowing this can seriously affect your bank balance!

In fact, the last survey taken in 1972, by the Department of Transport, found there were approximately 40,000
unadopted roads. In 2009, the Government estimated it would cost £3 billion to improve these roads to an adoptable standard. There has been no survey since.

When you buy an older property, the state of the road will be obvious when you visit the house, however, roads have become more of an issue when buying new homes, particularly on new estates – where it’s not always made clear who is responsible. 

Many new estates built within the last 15 years may be subject to estate charges, something not seen in the past.

What does it mean if your road is unadopted?

An unadopted road is one where the local highway authority has not agreed to adopt the road as maintainable at the public expense.

This means that the cost to maintain the road falls to the owners of the homes along that road, which are the properties fronting the road, or even those where the side or length of their property fronts the road.

When new houses are built the roads are usually, not yet adopted. It’s something the owners of a new build must be aware of.

If your road is unadopted, you can set up a resident’s association to manage the road, spread the cost and deal with issues or campaigns as a collective. This is not compulsory, and there will nearly always be someone who won’t join, which puts a greater burden on everyone else.

What does this mean if you buy a new build?

Now, it’s more common for new estates to have roads which are put up for adoption by the local authority, either in whole or part. This means that the roads, the shared public spaces, (green areas) have not been passed onto the local authority to manage (at public cost) and instead are passed on to a private company, becoming their responsibility.

In some cases, this could be a large housing association with many properties on the estate. That means that even those homeowners who own a freehold property, can end up paying a private company, to cover maintenance charges which includes upkeep of the roads and those green or communal outdoor spaces.

Usually, the agreement to manage the estate in this manner is written within the legal deeds of each property and acceptable under property law, home buyers are never consulted and have no consumer rights of redress. It’s therefore imperative to ask and find out what the situation is as part of your due diligence.

Issues with newbuilds and un-adopted roads which are passed on to a private company:

• Private management company charges are uncapped and unregulated.
• Unadopted areas are often constructed to a lower standard, causing problems from the outset for
• affected residents.
• Residents’ requests for the breakdown of costs to show how their money is being spent is often ignored, and they often have to pay far more than expected for a basic service.
• In the press, there have been many stories of residents suffering unfair charges, which in the long term means that home buyers may be put off from buying properties on the estate. Thus, this affects the long-term value and saleability of the homes on the estate.

What to look for when buying such a home?

Here are some questions to ask the estate agent and developer’s sales office from the Home Owners’ Rights Network:

• Is the whole of the estate going to be adopted by the council/water company when it is completed?
• If not, which parts will remain in private ownership?
• Has the developer agreed with the council to maintain any adjacent areas of public open space?
• What arrangements are in place to maintain unadopted areas into the future?
• Is there a Residents’ Management Company which will take control of the un-adopted areas when the estate is completed?
• Is there a cap on the estate charges and/or a limit to annual rise in costs?
• Is there a dispute resolution process, and if so, what is it?
• What standards are used for the construction of the estate roads, footpaths, sewers, play areas etc. and what process is in place for handover from the developer to the management company?
• Is there an independent inspection before handover?
• Are there any guarantees or indemnities against defects in the construction of the estate?

How can you find out if your road is adopted?

To find out if your road is adopted, you can do a local authority search, which is usually obtained during the course of the purchase transaction.

You can also obtain a highways search from the local authority, in addition to the local authority search, which provides more detail.

It is possible to request the local authority to adopt a road, but it is purely their decision, and they will expect the road to be in a good current condition, and not in a state where they will immediately have to spend money repairing it.

In some places it can take the council as long as ten years to adopt areas. If the road is in a bad condition, it may be worth residents bringing in a managing company to deal with the maintenance, until the council takes on the responsibility. This does though, assume that everyone in the area will agree to the plan!

Next week I’m going to be talking about something a little different – walking week. Keep an eye out for this and let us know your thoughts.